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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

PRESS RELEASE: Myra Vanderpool Gormley Award of Merit

NOTE: This is just in from Amy Johnson Crowe. All inquiries should be addressed to her at: amy@amyjohnsoncrow.com

--------------------------------------------------------PRESS RELEASEInternational Society of Family History Writers and Editors Bestows Prestigious Award--------------------------------------------------------

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (June 8, 2006)

The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) announced at its annual Gala Awards Banquet held at the National Genealogical Society’s conference, its first recipient of its newly-established and prestigious Myra Vanderpool Gormley Award of Merit.

The first recipient of the award is Loretto "Lou" Dennis Szucs, the Vice President of Publishing at Ancestry.com, the publishing arm of MyFamily.com, Inc. She is highly respected and much loved in the genealogical community. She has written, edited, and published a number of the most important genealogy reference books for genealogists. These include They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins; Chicago and Cook County: A Guide to Research; Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records (with Matthew Wright); and the brand new third edition of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, which she co-edited with Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. In addition, Lou has mentored and encouraged hundreds of aspiring writers, editors, and publishers, kickstarting their careers and building friendships with them.

The new award was established this year to commemorate the qualities of genealogical writer Myra Vanderpool Gormley who, through her many years in the genealogical community, has promoted scholarly writing, editing, and publishing. Ms. Gormley was one of the founding members of ISFHWE, has mentored many aspiring genealogical writers, has written hundreds of articles for journals and magazines, has been a nationally-syndicated genealogy columnist, and has promoted excellence in genealogy at all levels. She has been a tireless volunteer at RootsWeb and elsewhere in the community and has made our world a much better place for genealogists everywhere. Ms. Gormley was awarded a large plaque at the banquet commemorating the establishment of the award that is named for her.

ISFHWE is proud to have present the award and strives to promote the goals for scholarly genealogical writing, editing, and publishing in all media exemplified by Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Loretto Szucs Smith.

Visit the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (formerly Council of Genealogy Columnists) on the Web http://www.rootsweb.com/~cgc/